Marriage

photo credit: The Power of Love by Nelson D.

Ted and Juanita were married for 67 years. Their love grew beyond my imagining. I saw it in how they interacted in recent decades. I saw it in how they interacted in Juanita's last weeks. I also see it in how Ted grieves. The first thing he does when he awakens is to look next to him to see Juanita. For more than twenty thousand awakenings she was there. Now for dozens of awakenings, she is not. It seems unlikely that Ted can live long enough to have Juanita's absence feel normal. Although it hurts to see Ted's grief, it is inspiring to consider how wonderful and how long his marriage was. It is a joy to know that such love can exist in an imperfect world, between two imperfect people.

Ted tells me that although Juanita has died, their love is still very much alive. I believe it will live on after Ted dies too.